You Owe Me
by GuardianSoulBlade
Summary: Summary: AU. Slade kept his past locked away. He told himself his old life was dead. But an old acquaintance arrives with a request, and he knows he can't refuse, because it's from her.
1. Chapter 1

**You Owe Me**

**_Summary:_**_ AU. Slade kept his past locked away. He told himself his old life was dead. But an old acquaintance arrives with a request, and he knows he can't refuse, because it's from _her_._

* * *

**Chapter One: The Last Job**

Slade Wilson slammed his booted foot into Robin's face. All his plans once again foiled, it was beyond frustrating. A perfect scheme, breakout every single criminal in the city, send every single supervillain after them and while they were busy, rig explosives under the banks, holding Jump City financially hostage.

"What are you all going to do to stop me?" Slade taunted Robin, the boy was easy to rile up. It was too amusing.

"I'll do whatever it takes!" Robin snarled, he punched Slade across the face.

"No, not everything," Slade smirked. "You'll never beat me, because you're one of those good guys. And good guys never have the guts to finish guys like me!"

"I don't have to finish you!" Robin retorted, "You'll be rotting in jail for a long time instead!"

Slade kneed him in the gut, the teenage hero staggered back; Cyborg fired a series of shots at him, Slade jumped back, he dodged as Starfire flew into him, slamming him through a wall.

Slade craned his head, he heard a familiar mantra.

"Azarath, Metrion Zinthos!"

Raven's powers enveloped him, tossing him into the side of a garbage dumpster.

Slade rolled to his feet and removed two handfuls of shuriken, launching them at the Teen Titans.

"Scatter!" Robin ordered. The Titans moved, avoiding the shuriken as Starfire rushed forward.

Starfire kicked Slade, he retaliated by head-butting her, he kicked her away.

Beast Boy rushed forward, transforming into a giant tiger and slashed him with his sharp claws.

"Ah!" Slade groaned as he took a step back to clear his head.

Robin executed a high kick and hit Slade across his masked face.

Robin removed a birdarang and threw it, aiming at the detonator. Slade tried to avoid the shuriken, but it sent the detonator flying out of his grasp.

"Mine!" Beast Boy shouted, turning into an anteater and grabbing the detonator with his tongue.

Robin stood before him with the other Titans nearby; they were ready to take him in.

Slade made a split decision, he had to get out of here, there would always be another day to bring his plans to fruition.

He removed a smoke bomb from his utility belt, "It's time for me to go, we'll finish this another time."

Slade threw down a smoke bomb and the Titans shielded their eyes, Robin rushed forward as quickly as he could but Slade had already vanished.

Robin slammed one of his fists into his palm.

* * *

Slade staggered into his lair, stumbling as he caught his breath.

"I'll make them pay, those brats! All that planning, setback by teenagers!"

An elderly man approached him, "Slade, what do you need?" Wintergreen asked.

"Bandages, quick!" he ordered.

Wintergreen grabbed the bandages and helped his master out of his body armor.

He changed Slade's bandages and examined his wounds.

"You'll recover in no time at all, Slade," Wintergreen informed him.

Wintergreen left the room to make Slade something to eat, he'd need to regain his strength, suddenly, he felt the sharp prick of a needle in the side of his neck.

"Sorry Wintergreen, I need to talk to your boss alone," a voice told him, she set him down on the floor and left, shutting the door behind her.

Slade bandaged his wounds, he rested himself, he had to come up with another plan, he'd kill all those useless brats, Jump City was his stomping ground and it would be his, he would control the city, in both its crime and its legitimate businesses, he would set himself up for life, he wanted control, and money, it was all that mattered to him.

Slade looked up as he heard a noise, he rose to his feet and looked around, "Well, well, I'm very surprised to see you, you what are you doing here?"

"I'm only here to talk—" she began to reply.

Slade suddenly punched at her, cutting her off. She blocked the blow and elbowed Slade across the face.

He retaliated by slamming his knee into her gut and punched her in the mouth.

The woman executed a taekwondo throw and sent him flying across the room. He managed to land on his feet and executed a vicious high kick, smashing his steel toed boot into her face.

She tackled him onto the floor and got him in the arm bar, he retaliated slamming his head back against hers. He punched her in the stomach.

"I finally beat you, isn't that funny?!" Slade smirked.

Suddenly, he saw a pair of blades come out of nowhere, they were a pink shade of energy, a familiar energy.

Slade grinned underneath his mask, "I was wondering when you'd stop playing around, it's so nice to see this side of my girl!"

Slade removed a pair of escrima sticks from his utility belt, it had belonged to Robin, a pair that Terra had stolen for him when she'd infiltrated the Teen Titans.

They began to fight, he swing hard, she met his staff with her blades that shattered on contact. She disarmed him of one of the staffs and slammed the escrima stick into his right eye.

"Why you little—!" Slade snarled. He ran after her, she easily avoided him, running back and using her powers to create a series of platforms that she ran up to go up the spinning gears.

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that!" Slade snarled.

"You're too overconfident!" she snapped.

Slade kicked the woman in the stomach, knocking her from one gear to another. She climbed to her feet as she heard his enraged scream, she calmly moved out of the way as his fist embedded itself into the metal, leaving a large dent.

Slade removed his sword form its sheath and slashed at her, she avoided the blows but he kicked her backwards. He cut her with his blade, slashing her, not deep enough to kill, he found himself enjoying this fight, but then again, it was _her_, and he didn't get to see her often.

Slashing her again, He tossed his promethium sword and he pulled out a pair of desert eagles and shot her in the chest, he smiled, "a bullet proof vest, you're actually smart."

He launched himself up into the air, performing a flip and throwing his sword at her chest, she cried out in pain as he opened fire at her.

She staggered back, the sword was embedded in her chest, she needed to get the sword out and get to a hospital.

"Perhaps I'll be merciful and pull that sword out myself," Slade smirked.

She grabbed him and slammed him to the ground.

"That's enough…Slade!" the voice hesitated, as if saying his name was unnatural to her. "Pull this sword out of me!"

"You didn't want me to pull out on our wedding night," he grinned mischievously beneath his mask.

"Shut up and pull this out of me!" she snarled.

"I will humor you, sweetheart, but don't think I'll be so accommodating next time, I'm only letting you live on a whim!" He removed his sword.

"I beat you, stop trying to play the tough guy, I know you hate losing!" she glared at him.

Slade smirked, "No we're both a mess aren't we?" he let out a low chuckle.

"Shut up!" she snapped.

He bandaged her wounds, "You've been healing yourself, good. I wouldn't want you getting hurt." He chortled in amusement, "You only won because the Teen Titans did a number on me before you got here."

"You've never been able to beat me!"

Slade chuckled, "True, true, but I am genuinely surprised to see you here."

The woman reached up and removed his mask, her gaze meeting his. He leaned in close to her, as if he were going to kiss her. He stopped himself.

"Where's Wintergreen?"

"Knocked out," the woman looked at him, "I wanted this to be private."

"I see. "What do you want Gwen?" he asked.

"Vilgax has your son," Gwen told him. She could see the briefest flash of fear cross his features.

"My son Grant is dead, Joseph is a Titan, Vilgax doesn't have my son."

"Am I dead to you, Kevin Levin?! Is our family so unimportant that you'd let Devlin die?!"

Slade whirled around to face her, he roughly grabbed her shirt.

"Kevin Levin is dead! Stop talking about him! What happened in the past doesn't matter anymore Gwen Tennyson, get out!"

Gwen forced Kevin to release his grip on her shirt.

"You may scare the crap out of the Teen Titans, but I _know_ you, and you _don't_ scare me!" Gwen shoved him away from her.

Kevin dusted off his black body armor, "Go bother Benji, Gwen, I'm sure he'd _love_ to help. I'm not a Plumber or a hero anymore!" Kevin began walking away from her.

"It'll take more than just Ben and myself, we need you back, it's personal for Vilgax, he says if you don't show up, Devlin will die." Gwen grabbed his arm. "You owe me this much, and after this, you'll never see me again!"

"Care to pay me, sweet Gwen?" he asked.

Gwen glared at him. "You know I don't have that kind of money. You owe me your life!"

"I'm busy!" Kevin snapped.

"I've noticed, stalking and trying to kill teenage heroes, like what you used to be!" Gwen put her hand on his shoulder.

"I know, and what good did it do, for me or Bellwood or anyone else?!" he brushed her hand away.

Gwen reached out to him, pleading, "Just one last job, I'll get you your precious fee when I can afford it."

Kevin sighed, "I'll only do this because it's you, after this, we're through!"

Gwen smiled sadly at him, "I know."

Gwen glanced around at his lair. "Slade Wilson was the fabricated identity you used when you went undercover to go after those mercenaries, turned out you liked it more than your Plumber job. The Plumbers discovered that you became a mercenary and assassin and gave you a dishonorable discharge. Then you went into the army and had an affair with Adeline Kane, and after you were dishonorably discharged from the army, you divorced me, and married her!"

"Now Gwendolyn, don't pretend to understand me, you never _really_ did," Kevin crossed his arms. "You know exactly why I was dishonorably discharged from the Plumbers, and it wasn't about my other job!"

"Your little mind games work on the Titans, but I _always_ know what you're thinking."

"Tell me, what am I thinking?" Kevin smirked.

"You'd rather be sleeping with me than fighting with me," Gwen scowled.

"You always did know me _so_ well," Kevin laughed, "Let's go."

"It'll take too long to reach him with my car," Gwen quickly followed him.

""We'll take the Rustbucket 3," he informed her.

"Where—?" Gwen looked around, she saw the floor rise up revealing the Rustbucket 3, Kevin's favorite ship, it had vanished after he had been dishonorably discharged from the Plumbers.

He boarded the ship; Gwen followed him and watched as he fired up the controls.

"This will be interesting!" Kevin smirked, "just like old times! I look forward to fighting Squidhead again; I'm much stronger and tougher than last time!"

* * *

Robin glanced at the spot where Slade had vanished. "He got away again," Cyborg sighed.

"But we have the detonator," Robin held up the device. "We still won, and the city's safe."

Robin knew that Slade wasn't gone, he was merely hiding again, and he was going to find him, and the Teen Titans were going to take him down.

"Dude, I hate to admit it, he was pretty clever, releasing all the bad guys to chase us while he tried to blow up the bank."

"We need to help the police disarm all the bombs; they already called and told us that all their teams are out."

"We will go assist them," Starfire nodded, she flew off.

"Raven, are you all right?" Robin asked.

"Yes, but Slade seemed distracted, it's like he didn't care about his master plan at all. It seemed like his mind was on something else."

"What could distract him?" Robin asked.

"I don't know, but for all we know, it could be phase one," Cyborg noted. Let's get going."

"Yeah, but whenever he shows his face, we'll be ready," Robin told them. It was time to go to work.

Still, Robin's thoughts of Slade remained; he had a feeling his arch enemy wasn't going to leave him alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Reminiscing **

Ben had sent Kevin the coordinates for the rendezvous, they would meet up with them and they would head back to Tamaran where Vilgax was waiting for them. Ben had been offplanet when Devlin was taken, and wasted no time in summoning any other Plumbers to help them.

Kevin Levin sighed, "Are you going to give me the silent treatment the whole ride there? It's been so long…at least finally you and I are getting a chance to talk."

Gwen crossed her arms, "Tell me, Kevin, or shall I call you Slade, since that's the name you seem to prefer, what's there to talk about?" The sarcasm in her voice was quite apparent.

Kevin glanced at her, "How are you doing?"

"Is this a genuine or sarcastic question?"

"If I were being sarcastic, you would know," Kevin kept his gaze out the window.

"There's a lot of talk about you, at least what they say about you on the internet, since you are Robin's archnemesis, along with the other Titans."

"What does the internet say about me, besides the fact that I'm _evil_ and all?" Kevin sneered.

They say you're an ephebophile, that you're a rapist, on top of all your diabolical scheming," Gwen sighed, "I know you very well, you may be a lot of horrible things, but you've never raped anyone. Not even when you drained me that night, you never did anything that disgusting."

"I have standards Gwen, a code, that much I still have," Kevin sighed.

"Why did you force Robin to work for you?" Gwen asked, looking over the panels.

"Why not? Flip the bird at Batman, and I've got me an apprentice, someone to take up my legacy and follow in my footsteps."

"Why not your own kids? Grant wanted to be just like you."

"Grant got himself killed, I won't lose anymore of _my_ kids," he wouldn't look at her.

"So you'll use someone else's kids instead, you _have_ sunk to a new low!" Gwen spat.

"Grayson's an orphan, he has no parents," Kevin replied.

"So you can justify holding his friends hostage with death threats so he'll cooperate. I must say, you've gotten smarter over the years, I'll give you that!"

"It ended badly," he scowled.

"For _you_, then I heard you manipulated a young girl, promising to help her, you had her dancing in the palm of your hand, she wanted control, you wanted a puppet!"

"Yes, my luck with apprentices is most unfortunate," Kevin stared forlornly out a window.

"Why did you pick Terra?" Gwen asked curiously, not really expecting an honest answer from him.

"She was insecure, scared, vulnerable, easily manipulated, but she reminded me of you, Gwen, she was a lot like you, but without your self confidence or skill, or control. Her voice even reminded me of you, but she wasn't like you, you aren't nearly as easy to manipulate, but then again, Michael was always a handsome face and charming to boot."

"What will you do if we run into Michael on this mission?" Gwen checked their heading, still no problems.

"I'll cut his head off and put it on a pike, right next to Trigon's antler on my wall."

Gwen stood to her feet in shock.

"The inter-dimensional demon?! I've only read about him in books!" Gwen stared in surprise.

"After my unfortunate death at the hands of Terra, Trigon made me a deal, do a few chores and I get back my flesh and blood, there were benefits, it was…enjoyable, pity it didn't turn out the way I'd hoped, I got played, but in the end I got what I wanted."

"You would sell out the world to get something wouldn't you?" Gwen sneered.

"It's what I do best." He replied calmly.

Gwen made a decision, she was unsure of how to phrase it, "This girl, Terra, did you sleep with her?"

"Would it make any difference if I did, Gwen?" he awaited her reply.

"I heard rumors, stories, I never wanted to believe them, but I found the security tape, your little swearing in sounded more like wedding vows than some pledge of undying loyalty," Gwen shuddered.

"Why would I want to do some teenager? Honestly Gwen, do you think I'm a dirty old man?"

"I wouldn't know. You being a dirty old man, it'd just prove to me that you stooped to a whole new level of scumbag, that's all. I don't really know you anymore."

"You know me better than anyone, Gwen, that has never changed," Kevin finally faced her.

Gwen was becoming angrier as a thought crossed her mind.

Gwen grabbed his shoulder, "Why not Devlin, you could force him to become your _precious_ apprentice, this legacy you want. Why not him?! Tell me why!"

Kevin finally turned his gaze to her, "I wouldn't do it because of you—"

"You got the _balls_ to imply you're _still_ in love with me, even after what you've done to me and my son! Your affair with Adeline Kane I could handle, it was my fault for not being there when you needed me, but your constant deception and lying in everything about our life together, that was the last straw!"

"Is that why you brought me here? To drag up all my screwups and rub my face in it, _sweet Gwen_?"

Gwen slapped him, and not a girly slap either, it was a hard backhand.

Kevin didn't move, part of him knew he deserved it. He felt that way for five seconds.

He rushed forward, swinging his fist, only to be slammed into the floor by Gwen. "Don't forget who taught you how to fight, boy!"

"How nice of you to remind me," Kevin sneered. "You just got lucky!"

"I'm one lucky girl," Gwen taunted, she no longer played heroic vigilante, but she knew he hated costumed heroes, and knew it would irritate him.

"Cute, sweetheart, really cute!" He tried to break her grip and failed.

The voice communicator activated, "Just bang already and get it over with!"

"Tennyson," Kevin growled. Only Ben 10,000 could speak to either of them this way and get away with it.

"Ben, shut up!" Gwen shouted at him.

""I'm surprised you actually came," Ben told Kevin. "Gwen bribed you with money, didn't she?"

"What else would she bribe me with?" Kevin queried.

"Don't go there Ben!" Gwen warned.

"I'll rendezvous with you two, Kenny's coming, so be civil when he's there, are we clear?"

"As crystal," Kevin conceded.

Gwen halted the Rustbucket 3 as he spotted Ben's ship. He opened the doors and they landed, disembarking.

"Uncle Kevin!" Kenny exclaimed, "Teen Titans kick the crap out of you again?"

Kevin hid his irritation. "Hello Kenny."

"Hi Aunt Gwen, how did you get Uncle Kevin to show up? Did you bribe him with sex?"

"Kenny! Be quiet!" Gwen scolded, "Ben, you're influencing him, in the worst way possible!"

"We might as well admit it Gwen, we're both thinking about it," Kevin smiled.

"_You're_ thinking about it, I'm more focused on getting Devlin back than screwing you," Gwen spat.

"But we'll end up in bed regardless; you're the only one I come crawling back to when my life sucks," Kevin walked away.

* * *

The Titans had received unexpected news from Starfire's home planet of Tamaran. The Citadel was planning an invasion and she was summoned home.

Galfore had appeared before her saying, "The Citadel has forged an alliance with Vilgaxia, we need you to return to us to aid us in this time of crisis!"

"I shall return immediately," Starfire replied.

Cyborg immediately prepared the T-Ship for departure.

After they had departed earth, as they headed towards Tamaran, Starfire spoke to Robin.

"You are worried about the city, and Slade?"

"Yes, I am, every day I'm gone, he could do something," Robin sighed.

"We'll get him no matter what," Cyborg reminded him.

"What he said, dude," Beast Boy added.

"Still, he did seem distracted by something, and that's unusual for someone like him," Raven was thoughtful; Slade did seem preoccupied by something.

Starfire heard a noise coming from her Communicator. _"This is the Rustbucket 3 sending out a distress signal, we're under attack from Vilgax's armada, requesting all Plumbers within the vicinity to converge on our location."_

"Starfire, what's wrong?" Robin asked.

"The Plumbers are an intergalactic law enforcement organization, I know him by reputation only, but that is Ben 10,000."

"I've heard of him, I thought he retired," Robin noted.

They changed course and headed towards the distress signal. Robin spotted the ship, the legendary Rusbucket 3. Whoever was at the controls was an excellent pilot, expertly dodging a hail of laserfire as it dipped and rolled, returning fire and taking out various ships in front of them.

"This is the Teen Titans to Rustbucket 3, we're here to help you," Robin spoke into the comm.

Kevin's face betrayed his irritation, "Of all people, why those brats?!"

"Shut up, Kev!" Ben snapped, glancing in his direction, "We're taking all the help we can get on this one!"

"Titans, separate!" Robin ordered, the pieces of the T-Ship separated, sending the Titans in different directions. They began to systematically take out the attacking ships; Kevin crossed his arms, grinning beneath his mask.

"Thrilling," he mused. Gwen glared at him, he didn't say another word, they just continued a steady barrage of fire.

Robin gripped the controls of his ship, firing at the approaching warships, it was tiring, his arms were straining and the other Titans were doing their best to stay alive along with him.

"Robin, they're retreating!" Cyborg shouted.

"Something forced them to pull back," Robin noted, did anyone see what it was?"

"I have made my presence known, Robin, they will not attack me yet, they need me to surrender my homeworld to them," Starfire explained.

"Why do they care about that? It's not like they have before," Cyborg commented.

"It is because the Plumbers are here; they do not wish to appear to be violating any of their treaties, since my planet signed the Kelly-Casey Accord."

"It's strange that they would care about appearances," Raven looked out of her window. "Wait, there's another flagship, a big one."

"Dude, that's huge!" Beast Boy gawked.

"That is Vilgax, we must retreat, we do not have the power to stop him and Ben 10,000 is hailing us."

"You're the Teen Titans, right?" Ben inquired, "Please come aboard, it's apparent you have a Tamaranean Princess with you and we could use her help in this matter, we're here to negotiate a peace treaty between the two parties."

"We don't need their—Aaah! _Gwen_!" a voice bellowed loudly over the comm.

"Bring them onboard," Ben ordered, Kevin did so with an irritated glare.

The Titans exited their ship and at the sight of Slade, Robin rushed forward, attacking him, Slade kicked him back and raised his fist to strike, only to have Gwen step between both of them, much to their surprise.

"Kevin, leave Robin alone, the history you two have is off limits on this ship, I'm already stressed because of Devlin, the last thing I want to deal with is the two of you!" Gwen snapped.

"I understand, but what's he doing here?!" Robin demanded.

"Because Devlin is his son, and it's a requirement for him to be here," Gwen replied.

"Slade is Devlin 11's father?! I thought Kevin 11,000 was his father! Kevin 11,000 is dead!" Robin exclaimed.

"No, he just lives under a new identity, because he hates his old life," Gwen explained.

"Whoa dude, what's with all the shouting?" Kenny asked as he walked in. "Holy crap! The Teen Titans are in my ship!"

"_My_ ship, Kenny, how 'bout remembering that?" Kevin smirked.

"How do you know him?" Raven asked.

"It's a long story, really," Ben replied, "I'll tell you all later, we need to get planetside to Tamaran quickly."

"Dude, since when does Slade have access to a space ship?" Beast Boy asked.

"I've always had this ship, I just choose not to use it," he explained, he busied himself with the controls.

Gwen got up and walked out of the room. Robin quickly followed her.

"Is it Tennyson or Levin?" Robin queried.

"Tennyson," Gwen replied. "I'm surprised you remember me, no one remembers us anymore."

"Miss Tennyson, you know so much about him, can you tell me more?" he asked.

"So you can fight him, so you can stop him and save your city, Robin? I know all about his vendetta with you and your friends. Nothing I say will help you stop him."

Gwen glanced over at the Boy Wonder; she saw Robin's expression, he was eager to know more, he wanted to learn anything he could about his archnemesis.

"Please call me Gwen, Robin," she smiled at him.

"I remember you guys, from when I was a kid, between Ben and Batman, one of you was always in the news."

"We're mostly forgotten now, overtaken by flashier, high profile heroes, and darker and crazier villains, we have faded into obscurity."

"How do you know so much about him?" Robin prodded. This woman had all the answers he needed to know.

"Because he's my ex-husband," Gwen told him.

Robin remembered hearing a long time ago that Gwen and Kevin had gotten married, it had made the news, but he couldn't reconcile the heroic Kevin 11,000 with the sadistic, manipulative, coldhearted Slade.

"Why would he leave you? From what I remember about you two, you both were very happy together," Robin was trying to absorb all this new information and process it in his brain.

"Things happened, he felt life was unfair to him, and he took an assumed identity I gave him and became Slade Wilson."

"Will you tell me what happened?" Robin pleaded; he'd be able to understand what drove his great enemy, and how he could stop him.

Gwen walked towards her quarters, Robin continued to follow her.

"No Robin, it's too painful for me to talk about. It didn't just affect him, it affected me too."

"I understand," Robin nodded. "I didn't mean to sound too pushy. There's just so much about him I don't understand."

"You're not the only one, and I know everything about him," Gwen sighed.

Robin would learn about Slade eventually, but he decided to table the subject, since Gwen wasn't budging on it. He decided to change the subject.

"Would you care to spar with me? I've heard you're good."

"Why not?" Gwen smiled, "I've heard people say that about you."

They headed to the training area.

Robin started with a series of punches, swinging his fists, Gwen blocked them and kicked him back, he somersaulted forward, hitting her with his feet.

He executed a roundhouse kick, which she avoided. She blocked his blows and elbowed him in the head he punched her in the face and kicked her legs out from under her.

Robin executed a high kick that sent her staggering back. He pulled out his escrima stick and swung them at her, slamming them into her torso. He watched as she imitated him with a pair of her own, made out of pure energy.

He met her blows as she knocked his sticks away. He rushed at her, only for her to deliver a hard blow to his stomach.

Robin tried to catch his breath, she was good, she could rival Batman on account of her vast experience.

"When you can beat her is when you'll actually become a threat to me Robin," Kevin chuckled.

"What makes you say that?" Robin demanded.

'She's the only one who can ever beat me," Slade folded his arms. The other Titans' mouths dropped open.

"Dude, Kenny, she can beat him?!" Beast Boy gawked.

"Yes, much to my chagrin," Slade scowled, walking off.

"You did well, Robin," Gwen congratulated him.

"It's not good enough; you haven't even broken a sweat!"

"Don't feel bad, I enjoyed our match."

Robin watched his enemy leave, deciding just what course to take when it came to learning more about Slade.

* * *

Later that evening, the Titans were preparing to head to the ship's sleeping quarters when Beast Boy heard something.

"Dude, they're talking," he piped up.

"Who's talking?" Cyborg inquired.

"Slade and Gwen, I gotta hear this, I mean she's so…and he's so, y'know…"

"Yes, it's true," Raven pointed out, "But eavesdropping on them isn't right."

"I am curious as to how they could have been married once," Starfire wondered aloud.

"This might be one of the only times we can learn anything about him," Robin nodded. "Let's go!"

They crept towards the door and pressed themselves against it. Robin pried it open enough so they could peak into the room.

"Why did you let them come aboard Gwen?" Kevin asked.

"That wasn't my call, it was Ben's and he thought we could use all the help we could get."

"I don't want help from the Titans," Slade scowled.

"You're getting their help whether you want it or not," Gwen sighed. "Why did you want to talk to me, I'm pretty sure this isn't about them."

"Is it wrong for me to say I've missed you?" Kevin asked.

"Flattery gets you nowhere with me, you know that."

"I know that, but I have missed you Gwen," Kevin leaned over to her. The Titans stilled, shocked.

Raven was beyond stunned, Slade who was so horrible and evil, kissed this woman like she'd seen other people kiss their boyfriends, husbands, wives, lovers, this wasn't like him at all, could this Kevin 11,000 be some sort of dormant personality? Who was this lovelorn man, longing for the affections of his ex-wife? This couldn't be Slade at all.

Robin felt a twinge of sadness, their relationship, it was so much like that of his late parents, not the dysfunctional arguing, but the gentle warmth they shared, it hit close to home and all the similarities and comparison between them both made him even more uncomfortable.

Beast Boy and Cyborg were just as dumbfounded; they couldn't make heads or tails of it either.

Starfire could understand how they had been married, their relationship and that bond, reminded her of the relationship she had with Robin.

Robin gestured for them to fall back and they retreated, heading to their rooms.

Kevin pulled away from Gwen; she hadn't responded to his kiss. "Good night Lovely Gwen," he whispered. She didn't answer him and he made his way to his sleeping quarters.

* * *

The next day Robin walked out to the cockpit and saw Ben and Slade discussing something.

"I know that when the time comes, you'll do the right thing," Ben told Kevin.

Robin found that notion so laughable that he had to interrupt.

"Like you'd know anything about doing the right thing!" Robin spat.

Slade turned around, grabbing Robin by his shirt, "Because of my ex-wife, I won't beat the pulp out of you, but I was "doing the right thing" when you were merely a thought in your parents' minds, boy! I was a hero for _years_, and all that time, I did what I was told, followed orders, Benji bent the rules constantly, and they cut him all sorts of slack, but when it's _me_, when the situation's dire and my _best friend_ went out on the battlefield to _die_ and I was ordered to stay back? I broke the rules to save my best friend! And do _I_ get any slack, or some sort of exception? No, I'm cast away, thrown out like useless trash!"

Robin turned to Ben 10,000, "Is it true?"

"Yes, it's true, we quit that day, I remember it like yesterday, the judge told him he was dishonorably discharged from the Plumbers, they had to rip his Plumbers badge away from him, he was screaming at them at how unfair and wrong this was, so we took our badges and we threw them down at their feet, and we all quit, Grandpa Max, his team, myself, Gwen, everyone."

Raven glanced over at Gwen, hearing bitterness in her voice, "And they have the nerve to come crawling back to us, begging, pleading with us, "Come save us! Save us!" If Vilgax hadn't taken Devlin, I wouldn't be here."

"That's not like you at all," Robin noted.

"Life's cruelty has made us all cynical," Slade spat.

"We're not here to save the world, just to save our family," Ben told them.

"I see, but how will you guys keep him in line?" Robin asked.

"That's easy, he knows that if he betrays us in any way, I'll kill him," Ben stated matter-of-factly.

"That's wrong and you know it!" Robin reprimanded him.

'Yes it is, and it keeps him in line, I'm the only one who has ever come the closest to killing him, and I would have, if Gwen hadn't begged me to spare him."

"He would have spared you all the trouble," Slade smirked.

"You really want to pick a fight with us, don't you?" Beast Boy growled.

"No time for that, we're here," Gwen told them.

"My home planet of Tamaran," Starfire gestured, gazing down at her home planet

"Welcome back, Princess Koriand'r," Starfire heard the voice say, she turned to Slade, stunned that he could greet her in her native tongue.

"How do you know?" she demanded.

"I was a Plumber once," Slade replied, "I know many languages."

They docked the ship and headed towards the palace. Robin fell back to walk beside Slade.

"Is it true what you said, about Ben 10,000 that he's your best friend?"

"Yes, he is or shall I say was, we don't really see eye to eye anymore," Slade smirked. "You didn't think I had any friends did you Robin?"

"You're not the type."

"You don't know a thing about me, Boy Wonder," Slade turned away from him.

"Gwen! Did you love her?" he asked.

"Yes, I did, but that's not really any of your business."

Robin was about to demanded an answer when he spotted a giant alien with squid-like features approach them.

"Ben Tennyson, you have arrived, and Kevin Levin, this is good!" Vilgax shouted.

"Where's my Boy, Vilgax?! Where's Devlin?!"

"He's a prisoner on my ship," Vilgax smiled cruelly.

"Bring him to me and we can settle this!" Ben called to him.

"No, I'm going to sell him to the highest bidder, a lab would be eager to acquire a human/Osmosian/Anodite Hybrid."

Robin heard the familiar sound of a sword coming out of its sheath.

"You're dead Sqauidhead! You bring my boy to me, or I'll decapitate you, and no one, not the Titans and not Gwen or Benji will stop me!"


End file.
